Disney Without the Disaster: Tips with a Young Child

I am not, for the most part, a crazy person. And yet, when my husband announced he’d be attending a conference at Disney World in August, I didn’t think, Man, have fun with that humidity. I thought, I’ll tag along with our toddler!

But I survived Disney World with a young child, and you can too. Here are some tips I gleaned from spending four days in the most magical place on earth.

1. Book a Disney resort hotel. It can be a low-key entry to all the Disney! Disney! Disney! they’ll experience. You can check out less-stressful character dinners, themed events, and fantastic outdoor amenities. Plus, it’s way less hassle to enter the parks. Example: We took a quick boat ride from our hotel to EPCOT. Even better, souvenirs have complimentary shipping back to your hotel. Which is super convenient and also makes it way too easy to go a bit nuts with the shopping. Not that I’d know anything about that …. Over the years going to Disney, I’ve stayed at every level of “resort” and never been disappointed.
2. Consider grocery delivery. There are some great sites that will deliver groceries to your hotel so you’re not stuck eating, like, $25 Mickey Mouse Pretzels. You want your kid to remember what a fresh fruit or vegetable looks like? Bring your own food into the parks. Although, just a warning: Check that your hotel accepts outside deliveries. Ours didn’t, so I packed half a suitcase with healthy snacks.
3. Don’t over-plan. Especially if you have young kids, you just don’t know how they’ll respond to everything. There is a lot going on, and it can be overwhelming even for adults. It’s not going to help anyone if you’re dragging your kid all over the place to try and make it to some planned thing. Just enjoy the moment. Watch your kid enjoy the moment. Savor those $25 pretzels. Disney planning blogs can get very serious about planning, instructing people to reserve dinners and experiences approximately fifty years in advance. If you’re there with a young kid, don’t bother freaking out about planning. I made dining reservations during the day and really didn’t have a problem finding places to eat. With a little flexibility, we went on every ride we wanted to, some of them twice.
4. Download the My Disney Experience app. It chews through battery life like you wouldn’t believe (or maybe that was the Magical Mickey Phone Surveillance that you totally know is happening, right?) but it’s indispensable. You can access maps, real-time waits for rides, see where characters are hanging out, make dinner reservations. It was truly a life-saver.
5. Speaking of wait times for rides. Most of them end up in air conditioning! In August, standing inside was pretty damn magical. And because this is Disney, a lot of effort has gone into making the lines interactive. Winnie the Pooh had kids play areas, Peter Pan had interactive displays. But nothing beats Dumbo. There, you get a buzzer and then hang out in an indoor playground. Your buzzer lets you know when your turn comes up. It was pretty genius.
6. You really want to see a parade or fireworks? Here’s where I learned to go: Frontierland for the parades in Magic Kingdom; France for the fireworks in EPCOT. Just be prepared that your kid may consider fireworks some flashy, boomy monster coming for them and react accordingly.
7. Fact: There will be a breakdown at some point. For my son, it was dinner at EPCOT. He was over it and clung to me for dear life. He would only eat tortilla chips that I hand-fed him. I ate … not a lot. If you’re in need of a real break for your young child, but don’t want to or can’t leave the park, find one of the Baby Care Centers (there’s one in each park). They’re quiet and stocked with any needed baby supplies, plus a changing room and nursing room.
8. Bonus tip! Kids two and under are free to enter the parks! Free! I think he was literally the only thing free at Disney. (The balloons were $12. I am not joking about that price, you guys.)

More than anything, have fun. I’ve visited Disney as a kid, a teen, an adult, and now as a parent. Going as a parent was truly amazing, and I legit can’t wait to go back again.

I honestly worried that this whole experience would be a giant, sweaty, tantrum-soaked boondoggle. But my son—though he’s only two—was just in awe of what he was seeing and doing. He would chatter about the day’s highlights at bedtime each evening and nearly lost his mind when he met Pluto at dinner one night. He won’t remember the trip in the long run, but I will. And it’s something I’ll never forget.

Jenny lives in Denver with her husband, son, and two fat tabbies. She’s a mom by day, a writer by night, and a traveler whenever she gets the chance. Follow her on her blog or on Twitter.

Author: Mile High Mamas